Washington,
DC: Final fatality figures for 2003 reported by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today indicate a
marginal decrease in overall fatalities over 2002. NHTSA reported
that there were 42,643 traffic deaths in 2003, 577 fewer deaths
than the agency had announced for 2003 in its early assessment
last April. At the same time, NHTSA revised its fatality figures
for 2002, increasing that total from 42,815 up to 43,005. The
previously announced figures for both years indicated that traffic
deaths were still on the rise.

Even
according to the revised figures there were mixed results in the
2003 figures, with deaths in sport utility vehicles (SUVs) rising
dramatically, traffic deaths in motorcycle crashes increasing
for the 6th year in a row, and fatalities in crashes involving
large trucks on the upswing.

"Today's
news may mean that there was a slight downturn in overall traffic
deaths in 2003, but Americans are still being killed in record
numbers on our highways and the fact that nearly 43,000 died last
year should send an urgent call to action for Congress to enact
the highway and auto safety provisions in S.1072, passed by the
U.S. Senate in February," said Judith Lee Stone, president
of Advocates For Highway And Auto safety. "In this crucial
legislation, Congress has in its hands the vaccines, the safety
solutions, to prevent and treat a deadly and serious epidemic.
What is needed now is leadership and political will to pass the
legislation that will advance this safety agenda."

S.1072,
the Senate version of the multi-year highway funding reauthorization
legislation, requires NHTSA to move forward with reasonable deadlines
on safety standards to address vehicle rollover prevention, crash
ejection avoidance, side impact protection, roof crush strength,
seat belt performance, and the crash compatibility of vehicles
of mismatched size. Other provisions of S.1072 direct the federal
highway and auto safety agencies to improve the safety of 15-passenger
vans frequently used to transport children, church groups and
sports teams as well as identify ways to address restricted rear
visibility, particularly from inside SUVs, that can often lead
to deadly backover incidents involving children, seniors and disabled
persons. The Senate bill also contains provisions that encourage
states to adopt booster seat laws and keep a lid on the growth
of bigger more dangerous trucks on our streets and highways.

Congress
is expected to resume deliberations on S.1072 in September when
they return after Labor Day and continue the highway reauthorization
conference committee negotiations. The House-passed version of
the safety bill does not contain the key safety provisions supported
by Advocates.

Stone
added, "The data in this report does not mean that the trends
of increasing deaths over the last decade or more has been reversed.
It does send a signal of hope that the safety improvements enacted
by Congress and adopted by government in recent years may be helping.
Now we need to step up our efforts to ensure that the deadly trend
of increased highway deaths every year will be permanently reversed.
Congress has a golden opportunity to act and potentially save
hundreds of lives by improving vehicle safety standards."

The
FARS report also shows a dramatic 12 percent jump in motorcycle
deaths in 2003 against a backdrop of efforts by state legislators
to repeal all-rider motorcycle helmet laws. According to the FARS
report, motorcycle deaths have increased six years in a row. Safety
groups beat back attempts this year to repeal or severely weaken
all-rider motorcycle helmet laws in several state legislatures,
including California, Maryland, Tennessee, and Michigan. Louisiana,
which had seen a 100 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities
since repealing its all-rider helmet law in 1999, re-instated
its helmet law in June. Every state that has repealed its all-rider
motorcycle helmet law has experienced an increase in deaths and
injuries.

Rollover
deaths continued at high levels due to the ever-increasing proportion
of light trucks in the passenger vehicle fleet. Overall, rollover
deaths in SUVs jumped nearly 7 percent, from 2,471 in 2002 to
2,639 in 2003. The majority of people killed in SUVs, 6 of every
10, die in rollover crashes.

Additionally,
fatalities due to large truck crashes increased from 4,939 (revised)
in 2002 to 4,986 in 2003.

Motor
vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children and
young adults in the United States, killing the equivalent of four
major airline crashes every week, year in and year out.
"If the aviation industry experienced more than 800 deaths
a week in airline crashes a national emergency would be declared
and the U.S. DOT and Congress would be scrambling frantically
to address the public health crisis," said Stone. "The
2003 highway death toll is unacceptable by any measure. Administration
excuses about more vehicles on the road or more miles driven is
not an adequate response. The bottom line is that we are making
little progress in the face of record highway deaths. The American
public deserves leadership and action. S. 1072 contains reasonable,
ready-made measures to counter the tens of thousands of preventable
fatalities occurring every year on our nation's roads."

###

Advocates
for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), an alliance of consumer,
health and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working
together to make America's roads safer, is actively involved at
the federal and state levels to reduce the terrible tragedy of
crashes to families across the nation. More information about
the unfinished highway and auto safety agenda and the safety provisions
in S.1072 can be found on Advocates' web site, www.saferoads.org.